James L. Barksdale

James L. Barksdale was described March 5, 2001, by Mother Jones as a "die-hard Republican who has backed George W. Bush, John Ashcroft, and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott" and has broken "party ranks only when high-tech issues are on the line: He gave $3,000 to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from Silicon Vallye known for her support of easing trade, and former Senator Bob Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat who chaired the Web-based Education Commission that advocated federal spending to wire public schools."

Profiles
"James Barksdale joined Netscape in January 1995. He has served on the board of the company since October 1994. Before coming to Netscape, Barksdale served as CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, following the merger of AT&T and McCaw Cellular Communications. From January 1992 until the merger in September 1994, he held the positions of president and chief operating officer of McCaw, a company with revenues that exceeded $2 billion in 1993.

"Prior to McCaw, Barksdale spent 12 years with Federal Express Corporation where he served as chief information officer from 1979 to 1983, overseeing the development and implementation of the company's world-renowned customer service and package-tracking systems. In 1983 he became executive vice president and chief operating officer, overseeing the company's growth from $1 billion to $7.7 billion in revenues and its expansion into 135 countries. Under his leadership, Federal Express became the first service company to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

"He holds a B.A. from the University of Mississippi." 

"Mr. Barksdale serves as a board member of Time Warner; Federal Express; Mayo Foundation; Sun Microsystems, Inc., and TechNet. He also serves on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board; is a Special Advisor for General Atlantic Partners; and serves as co-chair of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, whose publications include "Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age," and "Creating a Trusted Information Network for Homeland Security.""

Affiliations

 * President and Chief Executive Officer, Barksdale Management Corporation (April 1999 to present).
 * General Partner and Co-Founder, Barksdale Group, LLC (April 1999 to present).
 * President and Chief Executive Officer, Netscape Communications Corporation (January 1995 to March 1999, when it was acquired by America Online).
 * Director, TimeWarner since January 2001.
 * Director, America Online (March 1999 to AOL/Time Warner Merger January 2001).
 * Director, FedEx Corporation.
 * Director, Sun Microsystems, Inc..
 * Special Advisor, General Atlantic Partners.
 * Member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
 * Director of America's Promise